Book Promotion and Marketing—Online & Offline

Writing a book is only part of having a successful book, whether it is a book that has been published by a large or small publishing company, a book that is a print on demand which the author is self publishing, or even if it is an electronic book. The other part of a successful book is the book promotion, this means the author will have book signings set up by an agent, or they will need to learn marketing skills for a self published book. Marketing skills are something that is needed even for the writer that has a large publisher, because in many cases, making the public aware of the book is left to the writer.

The problem is many authors can pen the most interesting book, with the best research or an imagination that is hard to match. If there is no effort to promote a book or marketing, the book will have few sales if any. This is where some writers fail, when there are few book sales, and they give up defeated. The only reason, there are few sales, is because the use of effective marketing was not employed. Today writers have many ways how to promote a book, more than writers of the past, because of the Internet and the use of websites, blogs, forums, press releases and other ways of bringing their book to the computer using public. This is an effective type of advertising for any of the different types of publishing, whether it is traditional, print on demand or electronic books.

This is because the reading public will not know the book exists, and that means along with being author, the writer will need to know their market well in order to promote a book properly. This can include book signings at a local book store or across the country, and is usually set up by the writer’s agent. Self published books and electronic books are a little different with marketing. The self published book that is picked up by local book stores, the author will need to arrange a book signing in order to bring public awareness, along with local interviews and press releases. That means leg work and brushing up on marketing skills for the writer that will be doing their own marketing.

There is also the same type of book promotion that can be used for the self published book and the electronic book, which is the Internet. This can be a great marketing tool, a website or blog can reach many more people than most writers ever imagined and there is less stress of meeting the public, since it is from behind a keyboard. The one thing that is important to remember when writing content for the net, is that when writing on the Internet the audience is only a part of who the content on the website or blog is written for. This is because the success of the site depends on its placement on the popular search engines, and that means properly placed keywords that will help attract the attention of the search engine’s crawlers.

Another method to help when figuring out how to promote a book is by taking advantage of a press release. This can be done in local newspapers where the book will be in local bookstores, and it can also be placed on the Internet at one of the many online press release sites. There is the type of press release that can be placed in the book store, which is referred to as a press pack; this consists of the author’s photo, a book cover photo, a short bio, and a synopsis. Social media sites are popular types of sites that are visited regularly by many computer users, and this is where not only can the book be marketed, but the reader can become familiar with the author and follow any of their posts about the book or other musings.

Using the Internet for promoting a book the author needs to do their homework, there are websites, which have forums and message boards with readers and authors of every genre that the author can join. There is also the ability to place on your own website sample chapters of the book that can either be read on the website or that are able to be downloaded to entice readers. This alone can help book sales in two different ways, first the fact that readers will purchase the book after reading the sample chapters. The second way it can help is that many people that look for new book releases on the Internet, also will post their review of the chapters either on the website if that is possible or in forums they belong to, giving the book more exposure.

There is another avenue that a writer can use to promote a book this is to contact the local television and radio stations; there are programs where it is possible to make an appearance for an interview about the newly published book. This also can work by contacting national television programs, such as morning news shows or other programs where interviews are done regularly. Part of contacting them should include sending a press release package, with the book cover photo, a picture of the author and a synopsis, along with the author’s bio. This is part of effective and professional marketing, and if as an author this seems like a daunting task it is possible to hire a publicist. This is a professional that will handle these types of events and effectively set up interviews and market the book. The largest part about hiring a publicist is checking their track record and reliability, just like anyone else in the service industry; there are people that are good at their job and people that are not as good.

There are other ways that are effective and many writers choose these avenues to help in promoting their own book, such as writing a review or blurb for another author on their book cover, this leads to exposure. Magazine interviews and press releases are effective, there are many readers that not only subscribe to magazines, but specifically the ones in the genre that interests them, and this can include writing a guest article for the magazine.

The writer must think in terms of a marketing professional when planning how to promote a book, it is no longer about the topic that was interesting enough and the author was passionate enough to write what they feel is the best book of the chosen genre. Once the book has gone to the publisher it is time to change hats and become the marketing professional if the book is going to sell. This is not always an easy transition, most writers are happy to stay behind their keyboard or typewriter and out of the lime light.

One of the most important things that go through a writer’s mind with a new book, no matter how it is reaching their intended readers, is how to promote a book effectively so that the audience of that genre knows about it, and where to find the book. Many of the tactics used to promote a book are time proven methods that writers have been successful with and some are newer tactics that grow with the Internet, such as the social media sites that authors can take advantage of today. The Internet will be one place will change continuously and authors will need to stay up on the new techniques that become available for book promotion.